Name: ________Laura Bionde________

Fall 2015
MSSE 470HPost Citizenship Class Reflection
I attended the following nights (including teaching) :
Teach: October 21, 28
Tutor: October 14, November 4th
Cross-cultural reflections:
1. Teaching this class has changed my view of immigrants:
(circle 1 5)
1
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Not at all -----------------------somewhat -------------------Very
significantly
Please write a full paragraph describing specifically how this
opportunity to teach newcomers/immigrants has changed
you personally (or why it has not).
I definitely think teaching and helping out with this
class has changed me personally. I have only worked once
with a student who was an English language learner, so this
experience really opened my eyes to how difficult it truly is.
Through teaching these immigrants I now have much more
respect for what they are going through. I know not every
person who is new to this country is able to put the time and
money into becoming a citizen, but the ones who do have
really amazed me. They are incredible people with amazing
stories and through working with them I have gained a new
perspective on hard work and overcoming hardships.
2. Describe one moment which underscored the differences
in cultures for you:
One specific time when I noticed a cultural difference
was when I used a term that it used almost every day in
my culture, but they seemed extremely confused. It
was my instinct to say work with your neighbor when I
wanted them to work with the person next to them.
However, they were confused about why I said

neighbor. I realized this pretty fast by just seeing the

looks on their faces and then was able to clarify.
3. Describe one moment which underscored the
similarities in cultures for you:
During our lesson on Martin Luther King, we had
the class write what their dreams were on a
worksheet. When we asked the class to share it
was amazing how similar the dreams were to one
another. Not only were these dreams similar to
others presented, but were the basic dreams of
anyone in America too. Specifically, most of class
said they want to be happy and provide for their
families. This is something that I dream of too so it
was great to see the similarities between all of
their cultures and mine as well.
4. Which learner did you most relate to/with and why?
I really felt a connection to Ana. After working with her
one on one during a tutor session I attended I really felt
she and I could relate. She was independent and really
seemed to want to work hard to accomplish what she
needed to. Also, she was always willing t help out Maria
who was struggling much more than her. Even if Ana
was not completely sure of her pronunciation or
spelling, she would do her best to help Maria with hers
and connect with her. I can relate to Anas work ethic
and how well she was able to understand there were
people who were much worse off than her.
Teaching ESL students:
5. How did this class help or hinder your ability to teach
ELLs in your future classes?
I definitely think it helped because I have not had much
experience in teaching ELL students in the past. After
working with Maria one on one, I was able to come up

with small activities in my head that I thought would

help her. I can definitely see myself using these
activities or helpful hints with ELL students in the
future. Even in the short time I spent in this class, I
have gained so much more experience that will prove
useful in the future.
6. Name one strategy and tell how you used it to meet the
unique needs of the ESL learners in the class.
One strategy I used with Maria was flash cards.
Specifically for Maria, she had no one to speak
English with at home, as might be the case for my
ELL students in the future. I would tell Maria that
she should bring the flash cards home. However, I
realized this would mean she would probably
simply read them in her head and flip them over
for the answer. I then explained that she should
read them out loud, both the questions and the
answer. Something like this will allow for a student
who has no one to converse in English with, still be
able to practice speaking while learning the
content as well.
7. Prior to starting this class, I felt _nervous_____ about
working with ELLs. Now that its over, I feel _nervous
but more prepared__about having them in my future
classes.
Using service-learning:
8.
Service learning is an effective tool for use in the social
studies classroom. To what extent do you agree with this
statement?
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Not at all -----------------------somewhat -------------------Very
significantly

Explain:
I think it was an effective tool to use in our
methods course because it really helped me to gain
experience in something that I would not normally get. I also
think this would be a great way to get middle school, or high
school, social studies students to get involved in their
community. Part of social studies is learning how to become
an involved and well-rounded citizen. Service learning is a
perfect way to help students do so and gain new
perspectives through new experiences.
9. Please write a page or so about how this experience
impacted your development as a teacher: (reflect on
things you learned from TEACHING and from Tutoring)
Working with this class has definitely helped me
become a better teacher. From planning the lesson
to cater to the needs of every student, to knowing
who to work with one on one while tutoring, all
these experiences have taught me something. The
first lesson plan we had to write was much harder
than I expected. Knowing how easy or how difficult
we should make the activity was something that I
now know takes experience. What we assumed
would be simple, was hard and what we thought
might be too difficult, ended up being perfect for
the students when it was time to actually do them.
I am now more aware that experience is the most
valuable tool when it comes to being a teacher. As
a tutor I definitely learned new ways to help a
specific student. Through working with them one
on one, I was able to come up with new tools or
activities they could do so that they could learn
better. Each student is so different and his or her
needs are so diverse. By working with this class I
can now use some strategies in my future classes.
Patience is something that I learned from working
as a tutor. Sometimes it would take almost 20
minutes just to go over one answer, but it was

something that had to be done in order for that

student to learn. Patience is key in any classroom
and with any student and working in this class
taught me that as well. Also, flexibility was very
important in this class and it is something I will
take with my as I become a teacher. Sometimes
we would have to change an entire activity or cut
out a whole section in order to make it better for
the students. As a teacher you have to be able to
do this or else your students are not going to be
learning as much as they can. Being okay with
changing a lesson is vital and I can now say that I
have had that experience and was able to do it.